Puella Magi Sayaka Libera
by Tamer Who Leapt Through Time
Summary: Having made the choice to save Miki Sayaka, a musician has faced centuries of life, death and rebirth to try reach her soul. Having managed to do so, he is left with a difficult task; to answer his own questions of what he is fighting for all the while fighting 'Evil' and keeping the two of them from falling into despair - 'going Conservative.'


AN: Political views depicted are not necessarily my own. Politics is part of LCS's gameplay.

'What is justice?' That is a question that has plagued humanity for centuries, no millennia. Does justice exist of its own accord, does it exist independently of our _perceptions_ of reality, is it tangible and absolute? Or is justice inconstant, being defined rather than defining, in contrast to absolutes such as the speed of light, other variables and ideas.

That was the question a certain musician contemplated on the trains of Mitakihara City, a response to the inquiries of a blue-haired girl, her voice and demeanour full of the fear of a musical composer who did not know what note to write, a soldier who did not know for what they fought – or the anguished moans of a Liberal about to turn Conservative.

"Hey, is this world even worth protecting?  
What have I been fighting for all this time?  
Answer me... right now.  
Come on, tell me.  
Or else..."

That, in itself, was a response to the 'tasteful' verbal assault on women by two young men seated opposite of the musician. Misogyny was tasteless in all its forms – casual, serious or ideological. Misogyny implied patriarchy. Patriarchy implied entitlement. Entitlement brought upon the Madonna-Whore complex – in this particular context, it meant that the female as an social individual could not be allowed to experience to the _fullest_ what it meant to be a woman – she was either supposed to a saint or a slut, with no options in between. It was this that was the source of the blunette's grief – not only was it apparent through that greater 'sense' that being a Liberal imparted upon you, but the musician's practically millennia-long personal experience with the girl told him literally _everything _he needed to know about Miki Sayaka.

In many regards, Sayaka (and all Puella Magi indeed) was not mentally dissimilar to the women those two youths were 'discussing' about. The venereal subtext was beyond disturbing; one could, have had indeed, called Kyubey the first pimp (then again, which came first, the prostitute or the Puella Magi?). Young and impressionable, they grasped onto some great enterprise so as to receive the means to achieve their goal ('wish' was too romantic for this depressing time loop). Initially, they choose to bear the degradations of their occupation. Slowly, they begin to feel regret for their choice. In the end, they died either a brutal or cruel death. Such was the existence of Puella Magi and women of ill repute alike.

His fate was as equally cruel. This was at (the very) least the tenth time he was caught in an eighty-year loop. It had started with a will to save Sayaka. The loop always started on the day Sayaka would go Conservative. If he wanted to save Sayaka, he would have to wait until the very day he died – then he would be back on this day. Clearly, it was a Groundhog Day-esque time loop he was stuck in. The obvious solution was to commit suicide to bring him back onto this day. However, being contracted as a Liberal, he was literally unable to commit suicide; he could never engage in any action the Idea perceived as self-threatening. The next choice would've been to look for a fight and then get bashed to death – all that it resulted in was lying dormant for the period of time he naturally had remaining for him in the core of the Idea; an immensely demoralising and time-wasting (as he could not perfect his music in that state) experience, for he was always forced to endure what was the collective emotional suffering of the entire human race, Puella Magi included.

Yes, it was around the tenth time he was caught in this horrible loop of seeing Sayaka turn into a Conservative and having to witness the horrifying deaths of thousands of individuals due to Walpurgisnacht. If he failed to save Sayaka now, he'd have to live the rest of his years until he died and found himself on his day again.

Killing the two cads, whether with swords, syringes, pistols or rifles on the train never helped. Trying to talk to Sayaka when she alighted the train never helped and kissing just resulted in an explosion which trapped him in the Idea for Idea-knew-how-long. Trying to persuade Madoka to become a Puella Magi to let Sayaka fight not alone that last time involved being sawed in half by an M249 and he was not going to try to kill Shizuki Hitomi; who knew whatever time paradoxes it could've caused?

There was only one option, the whole cause of this vicious cycle of misery, suffering and dog-eat-doggery.

Justice was not absolute. Justice was not constant. This was not necessarily a bad thing. If justice really was that vague, he could make justice mean music and needless to say, centuries of the time loop told him that Miki Sayaka and music could be said to be one.

"_Hey, is this world even worth protecting?  
What have I been fighting for all this time?  
Answer me... right now.  
Come on, tell me.  
Or else..."_

Her question was answered with a guitar and song.

"起て呪はれし者

起て飢ゑたる者

正義の焔は

今こそ燃ゆる

過去をば捨てゝ

奴隷よ起て起て

世は覆へる

無より総てに"

Centuries upon centuries of musical practice, alongside all the resources of the Idea had provided the musician with the perfect tool to rend and melt souls. The young men who had disgraced themselves with such detestable attitudes towards women were crying wrecks on the ground.

A rejuvenated Sayaka, her eyes wide open, with a certain wistful contentedness gracing her features and a single tear of joy dropping to the ground, turned towards the musician, whose response was,

"Do you want to hear something disturbing?" A curt nod was her affirmation.

"Miki Sayaka. You have questioned yourself on what you have been fighting for. You have constantly reassured yourself in the face of your fear and suffering by saying you were fighting for 'justice'. I sincerely believe you were and are fighting for justice." Sayaka, her face marked by trails of tears, finally began to smile (a sane and grateful smile at that).

"You've simply made the mistake of bring justice the incorrect way, yet you are no idiot for that." The train began to slow to a stop.

"Miki Sayaka. I can give you the strength to fight for justice. Make a contract with me, and become a Liberal Girl!"

The collective consciousness of the Incubators was disturbed; the stars of the universe began to burn much more faster – their task to maintain free energy in the universe had become much more urgent.


End file.
